What Is a Disciple?

The Word "disciple" has been thrown around a lot lately in church circles. We've almost used it to replace the word Christian - not because we believe it more accurately describes us, but because the media today have made the word "Christian" too much into a negative label. 

Also, churches use the word as a verb, as if it's something we do to another person. When asked what could be improved in their churches, "getting better at discipling people" is a common answer given we hear pastors give; implying discipleship is both a skill and a task. 

We come up with these answers because they're mostly true. A disciple is something we are, discipling others is something we do and it is something necessary to be learned and improved. 

However . . .

I believe that's only the surface of what a disciple is. I believe Jesus himself defined what a disciple is as so much more than that. This post dives into just how he did that. 

Discipleship According to Jesus

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus gives six specific descriptions of what it meant to be his disciple. They are as follows:

• Luke 14:26
• Luke 14:27
• Luke 14:33
• John 8:32
• John 13:34-35
• John 15:8

In these verses, the three in John are Jesus' qualifications to be his disciple, and the three in Luke are Jesus' disqualifications for being his disciple. Each verse gives a unique description of what Jesus calls his disciple, and together they give us six principles every Christian should be progressing toward. Let's start with the latter:

Luke 14:26 - Jesus Must Be the Preeminent Relationship in Our Life

Let's take a look at what the verse has to say. It is one I absolutely struggled with when I first looked at it. That said, when we take a closer look, we find there's a bit more to it than we may originally have thought. 

If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Right away, this verse raises eyebrows. Why would Jesus ever tell me to hate my family?! Surely the word must be mistranslated! Well, let me save us the trouble about wiping the dust off that old Strong's Concordance - the word is correctly translated, as seen the definition of the Greek word used in this passage below:

So the natural question is, why would Jesus say this? Why would he seemingly make one of the requirements to be a disciple a violation of one of the ten commandments - honor your father and mother? 

The short answer? He isn't. Like my subheading implies, this command is not a description of how we should view our families, but how we should view them in comparison to how we view our relationship with Jesus. 

In other words, Jesus' first requirement to be a disciple is to make the relationship with him not only first, but SO FAR AHEAD of every other relationship that it seems as if everyone else is hated by comparison. 

And remember, this is a disqualification of being a discipleship. If we don't meet this description, we cannot claim to be a disciple. 

Luke 14:27 - Jesus Must Be Our Final Authority

This verse is another one we've heard often, but like the one right before it, one that I didn't understand until I looked at it even further. 

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Okay, what in the world is Jesus talking about? He obviously hasn't been crucified yet, so why is he referencing the cross? Is he really referring to the crucifixion?

Truthfully, yes and no. He isn't referring to his crucifixion, but rather using the process of going to be crucified as an analogy to how you should treat Him. 

During the Roman Empire, crucifixion was regularly practiced in Israel for public executions. The death penalty was given fairly liberally during those days, which was strategic to illicit fear in order to control the area. 

After you are sentenced to be crucified, you would be flogged 39 times. Why 39? Because the belief was that 40 lashes would kill you, so 39  was in preparation for crucifixion. After that, you were forced to carry - or bear your cross - and take one last walk to your death. The journey to your hill was your last journey. 

The reason you were forced to carry your cross was very symbolic. It was a message both to you, and to everyone watching: you are under the authority of the Roman Empire. You were literally under their authority, by being under your cross as you carried it to your death. 

Therefore, when Jesus says "bear your cross and come after me" he is actually saying two things at once.

1. Put yourself under my complete authority
2. The journey under my authority is the last. We are in this for all eternity. You submit to me for life. 

Essentially, it's a description by Jesus to say we will seek to obey him for all eternity. We will trust him enough to obey his every word more and more for the rest of our lives, and the entirety of our eternal life. 

How obedient are we? That's something we must assess or risk never being considered a disciple by Jesus. 

Luke 14:33 - Jesus Must be Our Only Priority

Unlike the first two, this one is pretty straight forward. Jesus pulls no punches when he essentially summarizes the whole passage with this one statement.

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Wow. That's convicting. The verse itself lays it out pretty clearly, so I won't add too much of my own thoughts. But I will say this: If there's anything that we are unwilling to part with for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are disqualified to be a disciple. 

In a sermon I listened to at one point, the speaker defined all that we have as "the sum total of all our possessions and relationships." 

Our relationships, jobs, homes, phones, possessions, social media, entertainment, hobbies, - EVERYTHING must be able to be on the chopping block - or the sacrificial alter if you will - if God demands it from us. We never know when God might call us into a Mount Moriah moment. If we are unwilling to sacrifice Isaac, we cannot be His Disciple. 

John 8:32 - We Must Remain and Obey Jesus' Word

Now that we have discussed the disqualifications, let's chat about the qualifications. These are the attributes that all disciples of Jesus have, starting with John 8:32 - 

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him. "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."

That word "abide" is the key to the whole verse here, and the word itself worth a study all on its own. For the sake of this post, however, the word in short means to "cling to" - to know His word, and to Obey His word. To abide in Jesus' is all-encompassing principle of first knowing his words extremely well so that they may be obeyed. 

Simple question here: How committed to the Bible are you? Because that's one of the tell-tale signs of a disciple of Jesus - according to Jesus. 

Not church attendance, not church service hours, not how high your hands are raised, or how emotional you get during worship music. Those who are completely committed to knowing the Word of God and Obeying it are how we can tell who are Jesus' true disciples. 

John 13:34-35 - We Must Love as Jesus Loved

This one is one of my favorites, because in this verse Jesus does something he does in several occasions, where he takes an old testament standard, and he raises it. 

A new commandment I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. 

Loving each other is hardly new - as it's written multiple places in the Law and Prophets, so why does Jesus say he's giving us a new commandment? Because he's raising the standard. It's been said from the beginning, "love your neighbor as yourself" but Jesus is saying to love others "as I have loved you." He's not only saying love others because I love you, but love others the same way I loved you. 

It takes a lifetime of studying to fully see how Jesus loved us, but following his example in this way may be the one of the most important pursuits we ever begin, and a necessary one to be considered truly Jesus' disciple. 

John 15:8 - We Must Reproduce

This verse is unique, because it's the only verse that Jesus says that this particular qualification "proves" that we are a disciple. Not only that, but it's also the only place in scripture where something specific is described as to how God is glorified. 

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 

John 15 is - in my opinion - the second most important single chapter in all of Scripture (behind John 17) and this verse may be the key to the whole passage. 

When a grapevine bears fruit, the vine must be so full of nutrients, that it not only has enough for the plant to survive, but also enough to spill out into fruit. Fruit that - when planted, and given the same nutrients, grows into a plant just like the one it came from.

To bear fruit in Jesus, is to be so filled and so committed to Jesus Christ, that it not only is enough to make us grow ourselves, but to spill out into those around us, and specifically those whom God has given us to invest in so that they too can be planted in Jesus to grow up in Him also. 

When we do this, we bear the image of Jesus, and we help others bear his image also, and for this reason, we glorify the Father. We show the world who Jesus is as a walking testimony to his heart. 

I truly believe that in order to fulfill this final qualification to be a disciple, we must first fulfill the first 5. In other words, bearing fruit occurs when we have become so committed to Jesus, that what He's done in us be begins to do through us. 

Concluding thoughts . . . 

A disciple of Jesus has a very specific definition - one Jesus outlines in 6 verses. It's the most fulfilling life one can have, and one that costs everything we have. 

In the end, being a disciple is a life where we trust Jesus enough to commit our lives to understanding how he lived, and pulling out all the stops in order to live the same way. 

I say "how he lived" and intentionally not "how he wants us to live" because the former is specific, the latter is subjective. As we learned, Jesus is always specific when it comes to His standards. 

I hope this post makes us all consider how well we meet the standards of a disciple, and what areas of our life we must change in order to become more and more of what Jesus defines as a disciple.